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Planning Officer (Policy)

Employer
Bournemouth Christchurch Poole Council
Location
Bournemouth - Flexible, tailored and accommodating hybrid working arrangements to suit a wide variety of applicants 
Salary
Salary £26,421 to £39,186 (depending on experience)
Closing date
13 Oct 2024
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Planning Officer (Policy)

Salary £26,421 to £39,186 (depending on experience)

Job Introduction

Your new organisation

Born out of Local Government Reorganisation in 2019, Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council have come together to form the 10th largest urban local authority in England. It is a place where culture and heritage meet innovation and modernity, village meets town, country meets coast, creativity meets digital, businesses flourish and people thrive. The potential for investment and economic growth is huge. 

With over 15 miles of beautiful, world-renowned coastline, the area has excellent transport links, with rail and road connections nationally and to London, as well as international flights from Bournemouth Airport. 

Its communities are vibrant and diverse, with an outstanding quality of life, where everyone plays an active role. It is an area where people love to live, learn, work, explore, invent and relax.

BCP Council has a culture of openness to ideas and experimentation in how they do things and welcome imaginative, creative and ambitious thinking. There is a corporate transformation programme underway that seeks to make the best use of technology to deliver the best possible services to the area’s communities.

BCP Council is consistently in the top ten busiest local planning authorities in the country, representative of our diverse area, overall strategic growth and development opportunities, inward investment interest and premier location on the south coast as the place to live, work and play. 

BCP Council has ambitious plans for growth to meet its housing and other development needs. This therefore represents one of the most exciting planning opportunities in the country where you will perform a key role in helping to deliver outstanding planning outcomes that achieve the appropriate balance between meeting growth ambitions and respecting the area’s outstanding natural and built environment.

In recognition of this, the planning department is shaping itself into being one of the fastest growing and best performing local planning authorities in the country. Come and be part of our excellent and supportive team and help us deliver this vision. 

Your new role

BCP is seeking curious, creative and ambitious individuals to be a part of their journey in planning for the future growth and prosperity of the region. We are looking to welcome candidates with the desire to make an impact and feel confident sharing their ideas. The Council’s team ethos is one which encourages collaboration and thoughtful contribution towards how the Council delivers their planning service, to best serve the interests of the community and region. 

See Job Description for more details about the role and what’s needed to succeed

Within your role as a Planning Officer, your key accountabilities will include:

  • Deliver quality advice, skill and knowledge relating to national and local planning policy
  • Organise and undertake consultation exercises and promote opportunities for the public to scrutinise, engage with and contribute to the Local Plan, planning policy documents and other related work, so that the Council can understand and consider the community's needs and wishes
  • Collect data on and research the issues and needs that impact on the built and natural environment and Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole as a place, to inform policy considerations. 
  • Provide input into examinations, planning appeals and hearings to justify and defend the Council's planning policy.
  • Support the implementation and monitoring of planning policy to ensure that the Local Plan and other policy is adhered to successfully. 

 What you'll need to succeed

  • Degree in Town Planning or related degree and/ or experience and ability to demonstrate transferable skills 
  • Member or eligible to be a member of the Royal Town Planning Institute or ability to demonstrate ability to work towards membership.
  • Experience of working in a Local Authority planning department is desirable.
  • Knowledge of the Local Plan(s) for BCP. 
  • Knowledge of planning legislation such as Town and Country Planning Act, and governmental planning framework. 
  • Ability to provide professional advice and guidance, and to present information to a range of stakeholders in a clear manner. 
  • Knowledge of and experience of using Microsoft Office; knowledge and confidence in the use of IT for planning or similar purposes and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) would also be desirable.
  • Self-motivated and self-reliant with excellent teamworking skills
  • Willingness to learn and respond to new challenges and changes and be able to adapt to these
  • Ability to recognise and resolve barriers and solve problems
  • Good interpersonal and communication skills; able to develop and maintain relationships with customers and colleagues; emotional intelligence 
  • Commitment to quality output and outcomes

 What you'll get in return

  • Flexible, tailored and accommodating hybrid working arrangements to suit a wide variety of applicants 
  • Access to newly modern, newly refurbished office hub location in the heart of Bournemouth town centre
  • Excellent pension scheme 
  • Cycle to work scheme 
  • Family support services 
  • Wellbeing, Employee support and Counselling services
  • Supportive and collaborative working environment in which to develop your career 

 Contact

For queries about the role contact: caroline.peach@bcpcouncil.gov.uk (Head of Strategic Planning)

 About BCP Council

BCP Council provides services to a diverse community of 400,000 residents and employs more than 5,000 people. Our area includes over 15 miles of beautiful world-renowned coastline. We can offer career defining roles to transform and improve services. By working with us, you can help deliver a vision of a thriving, word-class, prosperous and inclusive place for generations to come.

Our Benefits

We offer an excellent benefits package to colleagues. Find out more on our website.

As a result of the creation of BCP Council in 2019, we are working on simplifying our terms and conditions of service and will be creating a single pay structure which is to be applicable for all employees. It is important to us that we offer benefits that our colleagues value as part of their total employment package and we are reviewing these to make sure we have it right. We are in the process of establishing a timescale for implementation and colleagues joining us will be included in these changes. This is expected to be in place in 2024.

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